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With about a 7% average annual economic growth rate in Vietnam, the demand for electricity production is increasing, and, with more than 3000 km of coastline, the country has great potential for developing wave energy sources to meet such electricity production. This energy source, also known as renewable energy, comes from tides, wind, heat differences, flows, and waves. Both wind and wave energy are considered to have the most potential for energy sources in Vietnam. Just as hydropower projects are controversial due to depleting water resources and regulating floods, nuclear power projects cause safety concerns. To overcome this problem, Vietnamese scientists are considering using abundant wave energy resources for electricity. Nowadays, the ocean energy sector offers many new technologies to help minimize carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) in the living environment. Further, many countries already have wave power plants. In this research, an integrated model, combining the fuzzy analytical network process (FANP) and the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS), is proposed for wave energy plant location selection. As a result, Con Co (SITE3) is determined the best site for wave energy production. The primary aim of this study is to provide insight into site selection problems for renewable energy investments of Vietnam. The contribution of this research is to propose a fuzzy multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) model for site selection in the renewable energy sector. The proposed model also can address different complex problems in location selection; it is also a flexible design model for considering the evaluation criteria; further, it is applicable to site selection of other renewable energies in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demands for energy in general and electrical power in particular in the process of industrialization–modernization in Vietnam are increasing. Although other renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power have been prioritized, they cannot compensate for the shortages of electricity in Vietnam; moreover, traditional energy sources in Vietnam are not endless and will soon reach exhaustion. Nowadays, the government has chosen a solution to maximize domestic energy resources, i.e., develop renewable energy combined with importing coal and gas in appropriate proportions with the construction of nuclear power plants (NPP), which may be the optimal solution to ensure energy security, environmental protection, and sustainable development. However, site selection for construction of a nuclear power plant is one of the most difficult decisions that management faces. Thus, the authors proposed multicriteria decision-making (MCDM), including a fuzzy analytic network process (FANP) and technique for order preference by similarity of an ideal solution (TOPSIS) for NPP location selection in Vietnam. In the first stages of this research, the weight of all criteria and subcriteria will be calculated by an ANP model using fuzzy logic. A TOPSIS model is proposed for ranking all potential locations in the final stage. The results reveal that Binh Thuan is the best place for building an NPP in Vietnam. The contributions of this research include a fuzzy multicriteria decision-making (F-MCDM) approach for NPP site selection in Vietnam. This research also utilizes the evolution of a new approach that is flexible and practical for the decision-maker and provides useful guidelines for NPP site selection in countries around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]